Total Pageviews

Friday 19 October 2012

Durga Puja-The Worship of the Mother Goddess

The time of the year has again come when all of India fervently worships the Mother Goddess, Ma Durga.  Also known as the "Nav Ratris" or nine nights, this time besides the religious angle is also a time of merriment, a time to rejoice and have a good time.

Mythology states that in the olden days, the Puja was held during the months of March-April but the Puja during the months of September-October was started by Lord Rama of Ayodhya during his fight with the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. An interesting trivia about this Puja was that is is believed that the Puja was performed for Lord Ram by none other than Ravana himself, who was a Brahmin of the highest order as there was no other able Brahmin priest available who could perform the Puja with all its rituals. The fact that Ravana readily performed the Puja for Ram, even after knowing that it was being performed for Ram's victory over him, brings forward a virtue, the virtue of giving priority to duty over everything else, in this case even one's own life.

The format of the idol which is usually worshiped during the Durga Puja is known as the "Mahishasura Mardini Roop", the manifestation of Shakti or Power which the Mother Goddess took to vanquish the demon king Mahishasura. Along with the main idol of Goddess Durga mounted on a lion killing Mahishasur, are the idols of Goddess Laxmi, Goddess Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya. Each of these deities are a manifestation of some virtue for example Goddess Laxmi signifies wealth, Goddess Saraswati signifies learning, Lord Ganesha signifies wisdom and Lord Kartikeya signifies organisational capabilities.

So, if someone looks at the summation of the "Mahishasura Mardini Roop" and its significance then the point would become very obvious that if one wants to overcome difficulties in life then one would need to have concentrated physical as well as mental powers (Ma Durga), wisdom (Lord Ganesha), financial resources (Ma Laxmi), unquenchable thirst for knowledge (Ma Saraswati) and organisational capabilities (Lord Kartikeya).

All Blue Caramelers need to strive towards gradually imbibing the virtues as signified by the Durga Puja to be somebody in life. Even the virtue as displayed by Ravana of giving priority to duty over everything else, if properly inculcated by all in Blue Caramel, will surely lead to more professional glory....

No comments:

Post a Comment